Bedpans



1964 G. c. STEEL ETAL 3,

BEDPANS Filed June 6, 1962 #770 Hwy s United States Patent 3,160,893 IBEDPANS Geoffrey Carter Steel, 14 Roehampton Gate, London SW. 15,England, and Harold Alfred Doherty, Oak Trees, Cockfosters Road, Barnet,Hertiordshire, England Filed June 6, 1962, Ser. No. 200,412 Claimspriority, application Great Britain, June 7, 1961,

20,601/ 61 3 Claims. (Cl. 4-112) The invention relates to bedpans andhas for an object to provide an improved form thereof.

The invention provides a bedpan comprising a support frame providing anupwardly facing surface to support the users body and means for holdingsaid surface in a raised position, said surface being formed with anaperture and, in combination with the frame, an expendable waterproofopen-mouthed receptacle beneath the aperture and supported by the framewith its mouth registering with the aperture.

In one form of the invention the support frame is of generally ovalshape in plan, has an upright outside wall, which maybe of open orclosed construction, and has a top cover part providing the surfaceaforesaid.

Preferably the receptacle is of flexible sheet material (e.g. paper,thin gauge polythene or other plastic). The receptacle may have a flangearound its month which flange overlies the said surface, or a partthereof. In one construction the receptacle is of open dish-like form,produced by folding from a sheet blank.

A specific construction of a bedpan according to the invention will nowbe described by way of example and with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing the support frame with areceptacle positioned ready for insertion into the support, there isalso shown in chain lines, a receptacle in place in the support,

FIGURE 2 shows a blank from which a receptacle may be folded.

The support frame is of unitary thin-walled construction and made ofresin bonded glass fibres or moulded of a suitable plastic. The frame,which is of generally oval shape, as seen in plan, has an uprightoutside wall and a cover part providing an upwardly facing surface 11shaped to support the body. There is a rectangular aperture 12 in thissurface. The head end 13 of the surface 11 is of substantial width tosupport the lower part of the users back.

As an alternative to the use of a continuous outside wall to support thesurface 11, there may be used a frame of tubular construction havingupper and lower oval rings interconnected by tubular uprights.

The receptacle 14 is of open-mouthed rectangular dish-like shape with anexternal flange 15. The dish-like portion fits within the aperture 12and depends from the flange 15 which seats on the surface 11. Thereceptacle is folded from a blank of water-proofed card having the shapeshown in FIGURE 2. The blank is creased where shown in chain lines andprovides a bottom 18, side walls 19, end walls 20, corners 21, 22 andflange portions 24, 25, 26. The corner pieces 22 and the adjacent areas28 are provided with latex adhesive on the surface of the blank whichwill be outside in the folded receptacle, these parts then adheringtogether to hold the receptacle erected. The ends of the adjacent flange3,160,893 Patented Dec. 15, 1964 ice portions overlap at the cornerswhen erected and may also have self-adhesive coatings, if desired.Hand-holes (e.g. as shown at 30) may be provided in the flange portions.

The walls 19 and 20 taper slightly inwardly and downwardly so that thereceptacles may be nested together for stacking and storage.

After use the receptacles, and their contents, may be comminuted orpulverized and then passed into a sewage waste system. The comminutionor pulverization may be effected by apparatus of the kind havingrotating cutting blades or hammers cooperating with fixed blades orother parts and jets of water for washing the particles into a sewer.

As an alternative to comminution, the receptacles may be incinerated orpartially incinerated and the remainder comminuted.

We claim:

l. A bedpan for use by a patient confined to bed and comprising asupport member providing an upwardly facing surface to support the usersbody and having a rectangular aperture therein and means for holdingsaid surface in a position raised from the bed surface and, incombination with the support member, an expandable container folded froma single blank of water-resistant flexible sheet material, saidcontainer comprising a rectangular open-mouthed tray having a flat basewith upstanding walls folded upwardly from the base and said walls beingcontinuous around the base and united at the corners of the tray bypleated portions of the material, and flanged portions which extendoutwardly from the upper edges of the walls, overlapping each other atthe corners, and seat on the said upwardly facing surface, the trayportion being located within the aperture and dependent from saidsurface.

2. A bedpan as claimed in claim 1 in which the walls of the containerslope outwardly and upwardly from the base of the container so thatsimilar containers will stack one within another.

3. A bedpan as claimed in claim 1 in which the material of the containerhas weakened fold lines defining the sides of the rectangular base andforming the attachment of the walls to the base, fold lines at the endsof the walls and biseoting the angles between the ends of adjacentwalls, the corner material between the ends of adjacent walls beingpleated about the fold lines and secured to one of the adjacent walls,and fold lines defining the top edges of the walls and forming theattachment of the flanges to the walls, the flanges being severed fromsaid pleated portions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,230,413 Kinch June 19, 1917 1,388,155 Abraham Aug. 23, 1921 1,401,794Koif Dec. 27, 1921 2,063,797 Ebert Dec. 8, 1936 2,304,631 Ensing Dec. 8,1942 2,320,845 Bolton June 1, 1943 2,336,494 Metcalf Dec. 14, 19432,685,399 Crosby Aug. 3, 1954 2,893,017 Beck July 7, 1959 2,942,769Kuchenbecker June 28, 1960 3,061,840 Presseisen Nov. 6, 1962

1. A BEDPAN FOR USE BY A PATIENT CONFINED TO BED AND COMPRISING ASUPPORT MEMBER PROVIDING AN UPWARDLY FACING SURFACE TO SUPPORT THEUSER''S BODY AND HAVING A RECTANGULAR APERTURE THEREIN AND MEANS FORHOLDING SAID SURFACE IN A POSITION RAISED FROM THE BED SURFACE AND, INCOMBINATION WITH THE SUPPORT MEMBER, AN EXPANDABLE CONTAINER FOLDED FROMA SINGLE BLANK OF WATER-RESISTANT FLEXIBLE SHEET MATERIAL, SAIDCONTAINER COMPRISING A RECTANGULAR OPEN-MOUTHED TRAY HAVING A FLAT BASEWITH UPSTANDING WALLS FOLDED UPWARDLY FROM THE BASE AND SAID WALLS BEINGCONTINUOUS AROUND THE BASE AND UNITED AT THE CORNERS OF THE TRAY BYPLEATED PORTIONS OF THE MATERIAL, AND FLANGED PORTIONS WHICH EXTENDOUTWARDLY FROM THE UPPER EDGES OF THE WALLS, OVERLAPPING EACH OTHER ATTHE CORNERS, AND SEAT ON THE SAID UPWARDLY FACING SURFACE, THE TRAYPORTION BEING LOCATED WITHIN THE APERTURE AND DEPENDENT FROM SAIDSURFACE.